I purchased this camera to be a compact point-and-shoot that I could take with me everywhere. The main purpose, for me, was to photograph and video my newborn daughter.
With those expectations set, I was extremely pleased with the camera! It certainly won't compare to a DSLR in terms of photo quality, or a dedicated video camera in terms of movie quality- but for the size and price,it's great.
When I started shopping, I had a few important criteria. Note that these criteria immediately rule out any sort of DSLR (mainly due to size and price)
Must Have features:
- Portability: I needed a pocket-ish-sized camera, one that I could take everywhere.
- Affordability: I was on a relatively strict budget of under 0.
- HD Video: I wanted to be able to record at least 720p.
Desireable features:
- High-speed photo: This is an incredible feature for photographing action (and babies, children, animals, etc).
- High-speed video: I have always loved high-speed (slow-motion) video.
- * Shockproof / waterproof: I plan to do a lot of outdoor photography, so this would be nice.
Ultimately, the Casio ticked off all the boxes save for that last one- it is not waterproof, nor (I imagine) very shockproof. My wife also owned an older Casio Exilim model, and we've been very happy with it, in terms of size versus image quality. So I made my decision, and went with the fh-100.
So far, I've been quite pleased with the camera. It takes fairly nice-looking photos and HD video, and the high-speed features are tremendously fun.
If you are interested, you can check out my YouTube channel for examples of HD and high-speed video, and my picasa albums for examples of photo quality:
[...]
My main complaints, after a few months' usage, largely boil down to missing "wishlist" features, and other "hey, it's a point-and-shoot" type of issues:
- Limited aperture range:. It's a beefy camera, but it's still a point-and-shoot.
- No intervalometer: This has forced me to use other cameras for time lapse photography.
- No zoom or autofocus (or manual focus, for that matter) while recording video.
- No A/C power: Not uncommon with cameras, but worth mentioning.
- 4GB video limit: It does not continue to shoot video once the 4GB file size limit is reached, without manual intervention.
Those last two complaints make it difficult to take long video, even with a large memory card.
Clearly these are all minor issues. I would love to see an intervalometer added via some sort of software update, but otherwise I am quite happy with the camera.
The battery life is great, but it's still worth buying an extra battery in my opinion, so you're never waiting for it to charge. (Also, I have an Eye-Fi card- which is like a battery vampire)
GTMax Replacement Standard Lithium-Ion Battery for Casio Exilim High Speed EX-FH100
Average Rating:
Brand: Casio
Color: Black
Model: FH100 Black
Product Description:
This 10.1 effective-megapixel high-speed digital camera boasts a wide-angle 24 mm 10x optical zoom lens in a compact body that makes it easy to carry anywhere. It also gives users a maximum burst rate of 40 shots per second for still images (maximum image size of 9.0 megapixels and maximum shooting capacity of 30 shots) that can now be used to photograph distant subjects thanks to the high-power zoom. It also enables up to 1,000 fps high-speed movie recording that captures motion that is ordinarily too fast for the human eye to see. The EX-FH100 allows users ranging from advanced amateur photographers to beginners to enjoy high-speed burst shooting. It is equipped with a mode dial that enables manual exposure burst shooting and also has a mode that makes high-speed burst shooting easy, a feature that sets the burst shooting speed to the optimal rate just by selecting the type of scene. Plus, enjoy high-quality photography even in dim indoor lighting by using a highly sensitive CMOS sensor.
Features:
- 10.1-megapixel resolution; highly-sensitive CMOS sensor
- 10x Ultra Wide Angle Zoom with CMOS Shift Image Stabilization
- Capture 40 shots per second for still images (maximum image size of 9.0 megapixels and maximum shooting capacity of 30 shots)
- High-speed movie recording at up to 1,000 fps; High-resolution HD Movie function
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
Available at Amazon
List Price: USD 349.99
Customer Reviews
A really decent camera!
This camera replaced a several year old Canon point and shoot, last in a line of point and shoot Canons, and it compares vary favorably with them all. I'm still fooling with it, but I have had the most satisfying results in natural light using the red square and "A" exposure settings. The "BS" setting doesn't give me the pictures I want. I added a slave flash that's much bigger than the camera and I'm set for portraits and small groups of people. It's a bit slow cycling between exposures, and the built in flash isn't terribly powerful. My pictures are generally very sharp with minimal artifacts. I haven't used the movie mode yet and may never. The camera is a bit too small, so it's hard to touch the "on" button without looking at it, and it could use a bigger grip surface. The camera seems much more solid than my old Canons. The focus speed is not outstanding. On power up/down, the noise the lens makes extending/retracting into the body is disturbing, but it seems to just be a feature of this camera. Battery and memory card access is top notch. The Casio has been able to capture images that compare favorably with ones I've taken with my Canon Rebel DSLR, but of course the little Casio is usable over a narrower range of exposure situations. This is really a usable camera, especially considering the price. Sharp photos! Just OK image stabilization. I think I like it, but I'll be sure in several years. It's less of a compromise camera than I thought.
pretty good overall lil guy
All the little point shoots have their pluses and minuses. For me this one is a great camera so far.
It's a little "too big" "too heavy" but so is everything else in the class.
+10x zoom
+battery life
+24mm
+++super slo mo
picture quality is pretty much as good as anything else except maybe for the s90 but then you don't get the extras.
just my opinion. if you want the BEST pic quality and big zoom probably go for the pany but if you want a lot of fun and ALMOST the best picture quality get this.
If all you want is BEST pic get s90
PS. Not to sound too smarmy but I've met women after shooting their dogs in super slow mo and showing it to them. EVERYONE LOVES IT> This feature almost makes the camera (or the fc 100/150 etc) worth it. Luckily it also takes pretty great pics too.
Great camera overall!
I've played with this camera for a week and I love it. It looks nice, fits in your pocket, and it's amazingly fun to play with the slow motion video.
The pictures are great. I'm not a big photography expert, so I can't say too much about the picture quality. Compared to other point-and-shoot cameras I've owned like the Canon PowerShot SD870, it's just as good if you're taking normal pictures. However for low light and high speed, this camera kicks ass.
But mainly I played with video, it was the main reason I bought this camera. So far it met my expectations. It's really fun and it's just like what you see on YouTube. It's great for analyzing your golf swing or martial arts. It also works in room lighting, but it can be a bit dark at 420-1000fps. When you're outdoors, it works perfect. The resolution at 1000fps is quite small though but it works very well.
One minor downside is that the built-in memory is very slow, so when you first get the camera, your experience will be inferior. It will not have much capacity, your HD video recording/playback will be slow and jumpy (as another reviewer pointed out), and 1000fps videos will take a long time to record, and some videos may skip frames. But since I put in a Class 6 8GB SD card, all those problems went away.
I've had no issues transferring the videos/pictures to my computer via SD or usb plug.
Overall I think it's great value and I would recommend it.
